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Move Over Diablo III, ArenaNet Unleashes Guild Wars 2 Beta

BELLEVUE, Washington — For the second weekend in a row, PC gamers are getting early access to one of the big games of 2012. Last week Blizzard Entertainment invited the masses to “stress test” Diablo III in preparation for that game’s May launch. This weekend NCsoft-owned developer ArenaNet is allowing the legions of devout fans to get a sneak peak of Guild Wars 2. With over one million gamers signed up for the beta, the game developer hopes to fine-tune the game experience based on fan reaction.

Mike O’Brien, head of ArenaNet and executive producer of Guild Wars 2, said that having hundreds of thousands of people playing the game makes a difference in the actual gameplay experience. Unlike traditional massively multiplayer online (MMO) games, Guild Wars 2 rewards players for playing together by sharing the loot and experience points for defeating bosses and embarking on quests.

“If you and I attack a creature, we both get loot and experience, which completely eliminates that feeling in a traditional MMO when you’re playing and someone steals your kills,” said Jeff Grubb, lore and continuity designer, Guild Wars 2. “We don’t think that’s what MMOs are about. You should be playing with other players, not alongside them. We reward players for playing together. You gain experience for resurrecting other players. We’ve seen with beta tests that players form groups where people work together and build a sense of community. We’ve seen these people who don’t know each other and might be annoyed if other players were around in other MMOs, actually like being around others and exploring this world together.”

“As you wander through this world, the game feels like anyone near you is in your party,” said O’Brien. “The gameplay experience will ramp up based on how many people gather to help save a town from attacking centaurs and even boss battles will scale based on the number of players who join forces to defeat a giant monster. Within the world, it’s very natural to see players band together to fight for a common goal.”

Having played the game early with a gathering of press and developers at ArenaNet, even without the huge influx of players that will flood the servers this weekend, Guild Wars 2 stands out as an engaging experience that could attract casual and console gamers. (It’s worth noting that ArenaNet should be set to handle the large number of beta testers this weekend, something that Blizzard had problems with during its Diablo III test.)

The gameplay experience in Guild Wars 2 is much more similar to a very deep console role-playing game, but one designed for thousands and thousands of people. The game’s combat is rich in choice and customization. And when you engage with enemies, there are multiple ways to take them out. In other words, it’s nothing like a traditional MMO experience.

“In a traditional MMO, if you play as a tank, you always play as a tank,” explained Colin Johanson, lead content designer, Guild Wars 2. “In Guild Wars 2, all players have the ability to heal and attack and approach battle in different ways. Players can change tactics on-the-fly based on what the enemy is doing.”

During the play test I experienced, players would join in groups and take turns fighting enemies. Several players, usually warriors brandishing two axes, would attack an enemy in waves, while other players held back and fired arrows at the enemies from a distance. Even warriors could swap out those axes for longbows, changing the dynamic of the fight. The ability for players to choose from a wide assortment of combat skills further opens up the combat capabilities of the game. When engaging enemies, it’s always a fun and unique experience.

“The best way to play Guild Wars 2 is to become a great player and then learn to work with others in your group based on their professions and skills,” said Johanson. “In combat you’ll see some players go to the front and attack and then others step in when they’re in danger. People shift roles and react to what’s going on in combat.”

The actual combat has a console feel, although you’re still clicking a mouse button to engage with enemies. The action is fast and fluid and the screen fills with enemies and other players who cast spells and battle with traditional weapons. Things can actually get quite hectic on the screen pretty quickly, but the game looks great and no slowdown or lag was ever experienced during the play test.

O’Brien’s point about the natural progression of strangers joining together to save a garrison from centaurs or taking on a giant worm that’s wreaking havoc in a field holds true. There’s strength in numbers. It’s worth pointing out that ArenaNet looked to multiplayer games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 as inspiration for its gameplay, rather than traditional MMOs. This makes a key difference in the gameplay experience that players are in for when they explore the various lands of Tyria.

“Pacing is important in an MMO game,” said Jonathan Sharp, a systems designer focusing on player versus player (PVP) combat in Guild Wars 2. “There’s a lot of dead time in other PVP games. Games often seem to build up to a big event for a lot of time and then you sit around and wait for something to happen. We want the game to be exciting from the get-go. We don’t want people to crouch in the corner and wait. We always have things to fight for in Guild Wars 2.”

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I cannot wait to try this game out, I’ve spent roughly $1400 upgrading my computer fully so I can enjoy this game, and feel that the $150.00 pre-purchase on the collector’s edition were all money well spent. I am very happy with the “free2play” model, as the economy is rough and not many people “enjoy” paying a fee to play a game online with friends. I fully see a Forbes success article being written about Arenanet’s earnings later this year. Here’s hoping!

Guild Wars 2 is not billed as a Free to Play game. You might be confused on that. Arena Net sells you the game but you are able to play the game without a monthly fee. Free To Play games do not charge you initially for the game. and rely on you spending money in Real Money Transactions to sustain their game. Its very similar, yes. however the distinction is that it is not Free to Play, you paid for the game up front.

Sounds and looks good! “It’s worth noting that ArenaNet should be set to handle the large number of beta testers this weekend, something that Blizzard had problems with during its Diablo III test.”…..Blizz’s Diablo III test was a stress test for the Log In Servers…not an actual Beta. The Open Beta aspect was just a bonus, meaning those that got in…got to play, but everyone trying to get in…was the point of the whole stress test. Might want to note that. (Plus their Closed Beta is still going till the 1st from the post on Blizz’s site, after the test was over).

“It’s worth noting that ArenaNet should be set to handle the large number of beta testers this weekend, something that Blizzard had problems with during its Diablo III test.”

Yes, their game servers should be fine with the load…after all it appears that a good number of the people who spent $60-$80 to play a beta version of the game won’t even be able to log in. Look at the GWII Facebook page – it’s nothing but “I can’t log in”, “Why are my account emails in French”, “Why is my serial code already registered to someone else”, “I can’t download the client”, etc. We’re not just beta testing their game, we’re beta testing their backoffice. In my experience (which goes from UO on to present day) these are the kinds of intros that sink an MMO before it even begins, but maybe the game will be great. I doubt I’ll find out this weekend given all the issues I’m having, but we’ll see.

Your concern is really invalidated by past launches. World of Warcraft (WoW) had a horrible launch and the game went on to be the biggest on the market. Warhammer had a great launch (compared to WoW) and it is struggling. I understand your frustration at issues that you are encountering causing you to be down on the game, but, I feel you are in the minority…

My only concern with this game is that its free to play after you bought the game, but for every major patch, you has to pay for the content, as far as i know. Its like you need to pay to be able to go torugh Icecrown and kill Arthas.

If they push out major patches like WoW does with expansions or a bit faster it should be fine, but if you get 3-4 major patch every year, wont it be actually worse than a montly fee?

Where did you even get this idea? If the previous game is any indication, this is nowhere near a correct statement. ArenaNET released an expansion(note this says expansion, not ‘content patch’) roughly every 6 months. Factions, Nightfall, Eye of The North, etc. were all priced at USD$50 when they were first released and added(for the most part) optional campaigns and extra content, none of which was required to continue playing the original Guild Wars.

On the other hand, if you ever want to go past level 60 in World of Warcraft, you absolutely HAVE to purchase the expansions.

If you do a bit of math, at $12-15/mo for subscriptions, by 6 months you end up paying anywhere between $72-90. Much more than it would cost you to buy an expansion as soon as it is released, which isn’t even something you HAVE to do. Every time I purchased an expansion for GW, it was after I was completely finished with the content of the last, and by then the expansion would only cost $20 or less.

What the reason to pay for game which was hacked and shared to internet for free. I play on already stable diablo 3 server from hellgateserver.com, only problem that i can not trade with global marketplace.